SpiderOak? I've only used it for a few days, but it's as easy to use as any other cloud service and I haven't had anything unexpected happen with my data. The added security is great (assuming what's being said about it is true), as I work with a lot of files that require copyright protection. Still, all I want from ANY cloud service is a column view of my file structure. Seriously, is that too much to ask? :P

Agreed. Maybe Microsoft's new leadership will place a higher priority on quality and interoperability. Microsoft could be so much more. I may be in the great minority here, but I'd love to see Office on iOS capable of syncing to *any* cloud. SpiderOak is calling...

For anyone who writes for a living, this update is significant and very compelling. Office on iPad has been extremely easy to use and offers a ton of features. If OneDrive would just stop losing, corrupting, and failing to sync files, the $7 a month cost would feel like a steal. IF MS can continue getting its act together by offering real value and stability, I think they could quickly get themselves back into the game.

This is exactly what I do with the current iPad mini. Talkatone is acceptable for the few voice calls I get, though everything you hear has about a quarter-second delay. I'd recommend you get a Bluetooth earpiece or headphones with mic, as the speaker on the iPad mini doesn't do well in noisy environments. Just note that you *can't* answer a call or hang up remotely; you have to do so by actually touching the "Call/End Call" button on your iPad mini. Apple needs to release...

I'm having some trouble using a foot pedal assistance device with my Mac. The pedal's software works fine and allows me to program the pedal to mimic any keystroke or macro I like. I'm trying to set up the foot pedal to act as a modifier key, but OS X won't recognize simultaneous input from two keyboards. For example, if you hold the "shift" pedal down and type the letter "s" on the keyboard, you still get a lowercase "s." :(
I found a utility called...

I already use my iPad Mini as my primary phone (via VOIP), though I had to jump through a few hoops to do so (Google Voice + Talkatone app). Admittedly, telephony isn't a big deal for me. I probably receive about a dozen calls a month, and most of them are simply to remind me of appointments. I pay $20 a month to Verizon for 1 GB of 4G LTE data and I haven't had any problems. I'm much happier taking the small hit to my phone call convenience in favor of the huge increase...

Keep in mind that the previous Mac mini's discrete GPU was choked by its limited 256 MB of RAM; it wasn't very beneficial in real-world use, by most reports. For the same $800 you would have spent yesterday on that Mac mini, you now get a quad-core Mac mini and a fairly comparable integrated GPU. It's not an optimal upgrade, I admit, but it'll be a noticeable improvement. I just ordered one... with the Fusion drive (education price: $1004). When my new Mac mini arrives,...

Oh, he was quite qualified. I just didn't think it was necessary for me to list his entire resume in an Apple enthusiast forum, provided I even had access to it. He's also a nationally-published author and his tech writing and editing are entirely for online publishing. As an aside, I've seen AI's application: all you have to be able to do is write a semi-coherent article, mostly from information you've aggregated from other online sources. It's not difficult; it just...

It's funny because a friend of mine applied for a writing position here several months ago. He has a master's degree in literature, 5 years of college teaching experience, and another 5 years of tech writing experience. AI never even responded to his application. Perhaps he was overqualified. :P